Fans of Attack on Titan are eagerly waiting for the show's epic end, sitting on the edges of their seats, not knowing who’ll live and who’ll die by the time the series completes its run. Many fans will also begin reading the manga are find out how the anime is different from its source material.
Those who’ve already read the manga know that the show does a decent job staying faithful to the source material. Even so, certain changes were made by WIT STUDIO—most likely due to different creative choices, which resulted in the anime having some remarkable differences from its manga.
10 Armin Isn’t The Weakling He Is Made Out To Be In The Manga
The anime introduces Armin as a weakling who eventually uses his intelligence to fight with his enemies. However, in the manga, even when Armin was being beaten up by his bullies, he stood his ground and basically called them idiots for not being able to prove him wrong.
In fact, he often spoke out at the most surprising and unexpected moments and did not hold his words as often as was portrayed in the anime.
9 It Is Armin Who Pulls Eren Out Of His First Titan Transformation
Perhaps the studio did this because it wanted to emphasize Mikasa’s feelings for Eren and then justify her running toward a titan when she assumed Eren had died.
Whatever the reason may be for the change in this scene, it was actually Armin that first came to Eren’s rescue, when he realized Eren was not only alive, but he was the one who’d transformed into a titan as well.
8 Historia’s Insecurities, Abuse And Abandonment Issues Are Portrayed In-Depth In The Manga
A lot of Historia’s past (including her detailed abuse by her mother) are either barely touched, or completely skipped in the anime, as well as lack a lot of the foreshadowing and buildup that the manga had created.
This is especially in regards to Historia and the love she shares for Frieda Reiss, scenes which are shortened in the anime. This was most likely done to maintain the pace of the anime, so that the flashbacks would not occupy a huge chunk of an anime that was occurring in the present.
7 Eren Actually Loses His First Fight Against Annie
Many shonen heroes are show winning their first fights, in order to show fans how their strength/power had increased, which is why it would be understandable to make Eren go down the same path in the anime.
However, manga Annie easily beats Eren in his titan form, seeing which the Survey Corps rush in to rescue Eren, and Mikasa plays a large role in saving Eren’s life. These are the ones who manage to defeat Anne, after which she crystallizes herself into a cocoon. Annie also cries loudly in the manga while Eren was ripping her out of her titan.
6 Levi Makes A Space In The Hearts Of Fans Because Of His Blunt And Sarcastic Nature
While anime Levi is shown to be distant, tough and sometimes even harsh with his subordinates, manga Levi is quite different. He’s blunt, sarcastic, and often uses expletives, which initially surprised most fans reading the manga.
As is with the rest of the characters from the show, the studio believed making the Attack on Titan characters adhere to characters tropes and clichés would help them save a lot of run-time in helping fans understand their favorite characters’ personalities, which is why these aspects of Levi were never shown in the anime.
5 Eren Holds Armin In High Regards And Is More Loyal To Him In The Manga
The anime Eren is shown to be a hot-headed boy who eventually turns cold towards his own friends. He famously called Armin a coward, something that the manga Eren wouldn’t even dream of thinking.
This is because in the manga, it is implied that Eren is constantly trying to live up to the image that his friend Armin, had created of him inside his head. This is why he would have rather died, than snap at Armin the way he did in the anime.
4 The Anime Disregards The Chronology Of The Manga
These changes were made at the mangaka's request, Isayama, who had focused more on meeting his deadlines than focusing on his mange's plot structure. TThe studio made the other changes due to creative differences or because they did not want to sacrifice the pacing of the show.
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For example, the events of volumes 13-16 were completely re-arranged in the anime. The flashbacks of Ymir, while true to their source material, also happened a lot later in the manga.
3 Levi’s Abandonment Issues And Feelings Toward Kenny Are Explored In Greater Detail In The Manga
The Ackerman clan’s history is explained in excessive detail in the manga, including the political scenario and changing undercurrents during Kenny’s time (including how a dictatorial King Fritz hunted down the entire clan).
Kenny is also shown to be a more complex character in the manga than being a clear-cut bad guy in the anime, who abandoned Levi because of reasons that could have easily been taken care of. In fact, there are also scenes showing Kenny talking to his father, and hints thrown around about Mikasa’s father in their topic of conversation.
2 Grisha’s Info Dump About His Past Is More Detailed And Emotional In The Manga
The manga portrays a more cruel and a more horrific world where Grisha lived, with an inexhaustible amount of information shared with fans via his monologues and thought processes. Perhaps the highlight of Grisha’s despair was when fans saw the haunting expression on his face after Faye, his sister, died.
The Eldia-Marley conflict is also more nuanced in the manga, exploring in detail the social, economical, political and even personal conflicts the people of the two nations shared with each other.
1 Eren’s Bond With Mikasa Is Not As Strong As His One With Armin
This does not imply that Eren’s feelings for Mikasa were any less than they were in the anime, but most manga fans will agree Eren shared a stronger bond with Armin instead of his bond with Mikasa in the anime.
The fact remains that unlike Mikasa, Armin and Eren shared the same dream, which only solidified the bond that the duo shared with each other, making them practically joined at the hip. Mikasa was more of a mother figure to both the boys, which was perhaps another reason why they were closer with each other.